


A Divergent in Time

by EternalSurvivor



Series: Naruto Rare Pairs [19]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, NaruShika Weekend 2020, Retrospective, Uzumaki Naruto-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:22:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25778875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalSurvivor/pseuds/EternalSurvivor
Summary: Sometimes, Naruto wonders how he got so lucky. Then Shikamaru shifts at his side and he remembers exactly how.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Series: Naruto Rare Pairs [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417702
Comments: 24
Kudos: 323
Collections: ShikaNaru Weekend 2020





	A Divergent in Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is for ShikaNaru Weekend 2020 over on tumblr. This one-shot was written for the prompts from Day One (yup, I got them both in here, mwahahahaha~): Canon With a Twist and "I'll do anything for you". 
> 
> I haven't done much writing lately. Writer's block and life got in the way, plus I forgot about the event until literally 9:00 pm at night. Ahaha... I hope you guys like this regardless. ^^;;

Sometimes he wondered how he got this lucky.

There was a point in his life where Naruto Uzumaki had nothing but an empty hole where his heart should've been. No parents, no friends, _nothing._ He was tolerated at best and actively hated at worst.

Most people just pretended to ignore him. That was worse than the side-long glances and not-so-quiet whispers. It made him wonder, if no one saw him, did he even exist?

So, Naruto made himself seen. Pranking people was easy. A few cans of paint here, an eraser or bottle of glue there. He started wearing orange –the most eye-catching colour- and got right in people’s faces. They _had_ to look then, to really see him for who he was.

People saw, and that hole inside him only grew.

It widened by small fractions, sometimes increments so inconsequentially tiny he didn’t even notice. Bits of himself tumbled into the blackness, over time, until a gaping maw resided where a boy once stood.

It almost ate him alive.

Iruka-sensei was the first real balm to his wounded soul. The first person to truly see and acknowledge him as someone important. Someone _worthy_ of love. Then came Team 7 –Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei.

Before them, sometimes, _just sometimes,_ there was a chubby kid with potato chips, an irritating mutt, and a lazy boy with a scowl.

They weren’t friends, not really, more like kindred spirits. The bottom of the barrel. Good for nothings that weren’t expected to amount to much. If they ran together sometimes, got in trouble together sometimes, well he didn’t think much of it.

That would mean planting hope where none existed.

Naruto was reminded just how different he was every time _they_ went home with loving parents and he was left alone.

(He didn’t notice the lazy boy’s backward glances, or how those scowls deepened at times. Naruto was rather dense, after all.)

But time passed and things changed.

He gained precious people, lost a few, and gained more. Acknowledgement, companionship, recognition. It all came with time and slowly, that hole inside him shrank.

That lazy boy -now a man- shifted at his side. Shikamaru tucked himself more comfortably beneath their kotatsu, most likely seeking refuge from the chilly, winter air. If it brought him a bit snugger against Naruto, well he wasn’t about to complain.

Their friendship took a while to blossom. It wasn’t until after the chunin exams that a deep trust developed between. Naruto knew he could always rely on Shikamaru to have his back. The botched mission to retrieve Sasuke only deepened their bond.

He hadn’t expected that bond to make Shikamaru reckless. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. Naruto could still picture it so clearly, even over a decade later. Shikamaru, broken leg splinted, poised between him and Akatsuki’s leader, shadows dancing around them like vengeful spectres.

"Why the hell did you come out here all banged up like that?” He had yelled at Shikamaru’s back.

All that earned him was a brief, unimpressed glance over his friend’s shoulder. “Dealing with you is such a drag sometimes.”

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Just leave the rest to me."

Panic had suddenly squeezed his chest, making it hard to breathe. Naruto yanked at the chakra rods pinning him in place. “Shika-”

“I’m here because I want to be, you troublesome man.” Shikamaru’s grip tightened on his rat seal, his shadows rippling as they pulled closer to their master. “You’ve always had a way of making things so infuriatingly complicated. You jump into every situation headfirst, consequences be damned. Well, look where that got you now. Once again, you bit off more than you could chew. How am I supposed to have your back if you keep running ahead of me?”

"Shikamaru..."

"Sit tight for a bit, I’ll get you out of there soon.”

An angry, protective Nara was a terrifyingly beautiful thing.

But, he was still no match for Pein.

Naruto laid the mission report he’d been skimming aside and leaned over Shikamaru’s sleeping form. Gently brushing his husband’s bangs back from his face, he pressed a tender kiss to Shikamaru’s forehead.

“How did I get so lucky?” He murmured softly.

It took _days_ after Pein’s defeat for him to pull Shikamaru aside for a private conversation. At the time, things had been so busy. He’d seen his friend around the village as it was reconstructed, but Shikamaru always seemed to be at the epicentre.

Naruto was left to ruminate on what happened. How Shikamaru almost threw his life away fighting a futile battle. All to protect him. It left a strange, uncomfortably heavy weight in his gut.

When they finally came face-to-face again, all Naruto could do was squirm and ask, “why did you do that?”

The answer was so readily given, it shook the jinchuuriki to his very core. “I’ll do anything for you, Naruto.”

“But, Shika, why-?”

“I love you.”

A yawn next to him pulled Naruto from his thoughts. Dark eyes fluttered open before dropping to half-lidded. “You’re still awake.”

Rubbing the back of his nape sheepishly, Naruto gestured to the paperwork spread across their kotatsu. “A Hokage's work is never done.”

Shikamaru stretched and pushed himself up onto an elbow. “Come to bed with me, it’s late. You know Boruto will have Shikadai up at the crack of dawn.”

Ah, their eldest was a little _too_ much like him sometimes. “I will as soon as I finish this report. It’s time-sensitive.”

“Don’t complain to me when you have our son jumping on your stomach at five a.m.”

“Not all of us can sleep through tiny feet in our ribs, ya know.”

Shikamaru waved him off with another yawn. “Yeah, yeah, just don’t leave me waiting too long.”

Chuckling to himself, Naruto watched his husband’s retreating back until he slipped into their bedroom. The door was left ajar -a silent reminder not to lose himself in paperwork again. With a satisfied grin, Naruto returned to the mission report. He knew that when he finally finished, there would be a strong pair of arms waiting for him just down the hall. 


End file.
